BlippityBleep:I'd rather not have Big Brother know its population's communication abilities. The Patriot Act is still around, you know.

Big brother knows our communication abilitys. And I am positive that they already know how news travels and how to choke it off if they have to. Remember that china had to outsource to the us to get proper censorship materials.

Perhaps I am looking at this from a different perspective than you, but I am seeing 3 or 4 generations of tech from now, where PDAs with some sort of blue force tracker system are widely disseminated to the lowest levels of our military. I am seeing them as trying to figure out how to interpret all the info that will generate in a time-frame short enough for it to be usable on the battlefield. Look at the page for the contest. They are collecting statistical data on the submissions, and they might ask the winning team their organizational structure.

The dod does not care about your big brother fears. If they don't want info to get out, they just shut down external lines of comm completely. Other branches might, but the DARPA is just looking for ways to fight the next war. The biggest issue we have now, is that most of our combat is not against a uniformed enemy. So the big new challenge is figuring out where the enemy is, and what they are doing in the shortest timeframe.

Being worried about this study is like being worried that the next machine gun or tank round is going to be used against you. I guess its possible, but if its something that bothers you then you have some issues.

I'm in Ft. Collins, and I'm planning on going shopping in a little bit, so I'll make sure to keep my eyes open. Most likely places for it to be are either on CSU campus, the CDC center lawn, or by the highway. If they want it in a highly visible spot, they may also try Old Town or the shopping centers along Harmony Road. I can drive by all of it today.

I'm back from the wed bawwoon hunt. None found in my area (see earlier post, ain't aiding no spys here). I sat on a stand near Copalis Beach, but only saw tourrists, some with balloons in their shirt. But they wouldn't show them to me to confirm the color.

An OSPD officer confirmed that they knew nothing about it, so I'm sure that my area is clear.

1lastcall:Even though we never get to be part of anything cool, I did a quick run through my little town of Bellingham, Wa. and then a quick drive 20 minutes north to the Canadian border. No balloons. Dang it.

Go down to Boundary Bay and have a beer for me. Then you'll have done your good deed for the day.

karatekitten13:1lastcall: Even though we never get to be part of anything cool, I did a quick run through my little town of Bellingham, Wa. and then a quick drive 20 minutes north to the Canadian border. No balloons. Dang it.

Go down to Boundary Bay and have a beer for me. Then you'll have done your good deed for the day.

Still recovering from my night there last night. One can only consume so much Imperial IPA in one sitting, and I exceeded my count and farked the rest of my weekend. Are you a Hamster or Hamstervisitor? Seeing your Guinness tat, I have to ask if you've been to Uisce?

Mustaf Herod Upyur Poupr:Heh. What a crock of shiat. There's no algorithm. They just cleaned ALL marks off the map. Algorithm: That word doesn't mean what 10balloons.com thinks it means.

Probably true. But a program that eliminates IP addresses from consideration of "reliable information" by sensing out of boundary marks or sequential marks isn't difficult to conceive, not to mention- they know where the balloons are. So they see every error as misinformation or the result of misinformation.

Damn, Groundspeak's confirmed 6 balloons so far. Went out at around 11 this morning to take a drive along the coast, but didn't see any balloons. Then again, weather here in NJ is sheer crappiness--cold, wet rain & slush w/practically zero visibility.

This is where sites like 10balloons.com come into play. They try to bring people together to submitting locations of balloon sightings. But the folks at 10balloons.com aren't even reviewing the results before they are posted for everyone to see, and that makes it so that people can easily mess around with the maps.

The lesson to be learned: review information the general public gives you before posting it online. Although, honestly? That was pretty obvious.